Daily Devotional

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

If you come into my office, you’ll see a rather large painting of Spider-Man hung up on my wall. One might see that and assume that I really like Spider-Man, which would be true, but there’s more to it than that. Being that I primarily work with students, I want students to be comfortable and see that we have some common ground. Even for those who don’t like comic books or superheroes, I figure a big picture of Spider-Man at the very least should show that I’m a real person who likes having fun. I hope that something as simple as a picture on my wall can help lower the walls a person might naturally put up when they enter my office.

I believe that what we put on display says something about who we are, or at least who we want people to think we are. I don’t think most people are trying to hide who they really are, but I do believe we’re all trying to curate the best version of ourselves for others to see. Social media is a great case study of this. Most images posted on social media platforms aren’t the full and real story. You might see a picture of a child cuddled up next to their parent but don’t see the images of the tantrums, the arguing, and the crying. You might see an image of the perfect marriage proposal, but not the 50 pictures it took to get that one “candid” shot.
 
As I said, all of us are curating a version of our reality that we are allowing others to see. What are the things we put on display? No doubt they are our strengths, our accomplishments, and our successes. We display these things to put ourselves in the best light possible. I honestly don’t think there’s anything wrong with celebrating the highs in our lives, but I think we also need to be honest about the lows. It’s true we all have God-given strengths, but we also all have weaknesses. Our tendency is to hide our weaknesses or pretend they don’t exist, but those very weaknesses are the precise platform on which God can be glorified.

The truth is, when we hide our weaknesses and only display our strengths, we’re not actually letting anyone see who we really are, and what’s worse, we’re hiding the very areas where God can be most glorified. Bob Goff puts it this way, “The cost of faking it is isolation. Vulnerability leads to community.”
 
If we want those deeper relationships, if we want to see God glorified in our lives, we need to stop hiding and be honest and vulnerable. None of us are perfect, we all have weaknesses, but God’s power is made perfect in weakness.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.